Sierra Leone declares Ebola emergency in district

June 12, 2014
by Clarence Roy-Macaulay

The Sierra Leone government announced a state of emergency in the Kailahun district from the outbreak of the Ebola virus which has claimed 17 lives in this West African nation, banning public gatherings and closing schools.

According to government figures released Thursday, there are 46 confirmed cases and another 122 suspected ones in the district near the border with Liberia.

In a press conference Wednesday, however, local parliamentarian Momoh Moiwai said the death toll was actually 28.

The government statement issued Wednesday night said all schools in the district will be closed to minimize Ebola transmission, while public gatherings including cinemas and night clubs would be prohibited.

Vehicles entering and leaving the district will also be screened at checkpoints, added the statement.

More than a month after Guinea President Alpha Conde told reporters the Ebola outbreak that originated in his country was under control, the death toll continues to climb in his country as well as in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

At least 231 people have died since the outbreak of the fearsome disease, which causes bleeding internally and externally and for which there is no known cure. Guinea, where the outbreak began, has recorded just over 200 deaths.

Experts say the outbreak may have begun as far back as January in southeast Guinea. Ebola typically begins in remote places and it can take several infections before the disease is identified, making a precise start date virtually impossible to pin down.

It's one of the worst outbreaks since the disease was first recorded in 1976 in simultaneous outbreaks in Sudan and Congo, according to Doctors Without Borders and may wind up being the worst outbreak ever.

Related Stories

One preacher advocated fasting and prayer to spare people from a virus that usually leads to a horrible death. Some people pray that the Ebola outbreaks, which are hitting three countries in West Africa, stay away from their ...

Psoriasis is well-known for causing too many skin cells on elbows, knees, and across the body, but people living with psoriasis may also be at an increased risk of heart disease. Effects of overactive immune cells in the ...

New genetic research from an international team including McMaster University, University of Helsinki, Vilnius University and the University of Sydney, suggests that smallpox, a pathogen that caused millions of deaths worldwide, ...

In a new study, researchers have modified a rabies virus, so that it has a protein from the MERS virus; this altered virus works as a 2-for-1 vaccine that protects mice against both Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) ...